Solar Hybrid Yacht Shows Electricty and Water Do Mix

Who says water and electricity don’t mix? The world’s first solar-electric-diesel hybrid yacht will have you impressing the greenies at the Yacht Club and sailing the seas in style.

The Island Pilot DSe Hybrid catches rays with a 6.8 kW solar array that’ll get you to Margaritaville and back at 6 knots with zero emissions. But if the sun ain’t shining in Cocomo, you can crank up the Steyer Motors parallel hybrid system that mates a 75-horsepower diesel engine and a pair of 36-horsepower electric motors powered by a 20-kilowatt-hour battery pack.

The DSe can run for as long as two hours on battery power. Kick on the diesels and she’ll cruise at 13 knots while charging the battery pack through a pair of 25-kW generators. Run the diesel engine and electric motor in tandem and she’ll hit 15 knots.

Of course, no one buys a yacht for the drivetrain — yachts are all about luxury, and the DSe delivers. If the scenery gets boring, you can watch a DVD on the 26-inch HDTV and Bose home theater system. You can make waves of your own on the queen-size bed in the master stateroom. The guest suite has a queen bed that converts to a pair of twins if you’ve got kids along. There’s a full galley, a water heater that holds six gallons — no cold showers for you, cap’n — and even a washer and dryer to keep your Hawaiian shirts clean.

Anyone who can drop 600 large on a yacht in this economy probably isn’t hurting for cash, but they’ll get a break on insurance from Travelers Insurance Company, which has announced a 10 percent discount on policies for hybrid boats.

The DSe comes on the heels of the 14.5-foot hybrid fishing boat Scout Boats unveiled earlier this year at the New York National Boat Show. You’re going to see more hybrids and alt-fuel vessels coming to the boating industry — which, of course, was the first to embrace green tech with something called the sail a few millennia ago.